Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Life with Fred & Lucy, Episode 30: Robert Hall

Back in the day, during the late
50’s and early 60’s, shopping for our family’s clothing was limited to three
particular areas: The shops on 7th street between Ritner and Snyder,
Lit Brothers Department Store at 8th and Market Streets or Robert
Hall Clothing Store near 24th and Oregon Ave.

A trip on the trolley to Lit
Brothers was always a special treat because Lit Brothers had a larger selection
of clothing to choose from and that meant that Jane and I had more leverage
with mom. My mother, who always bought and dressed in the latest fashions,
seemed to lose all sense of style when it came to buying clothes for her pre-teenaged
daughters. You can tell by the above picture that I was not at all happy with my outfit, and in fact, tried to hide among my cousins.

Michael and Lucy being younger didn’t
mind as much, but Jane and I dreaded every shopping adventure with mom. She
always bought clothing that was too big, and when we complained, she would
quickly counter with, “You’ll get more wear out of it.”

More wear? Like...did she expect us
to keep the dress for our 80th birthday? She did this with shoes
too. I’ve often wondered if my siblings' and my classmates thought that we had a
genetic condition with our walking because we clumped around in our shoes, but...
according to Lucy, “You’ll get more wear out of it.”

Mom also liked to buy things in
duplicates and triplicates, for example, if she liked a particular sundress
then she would buy the same dress for Jane, Lucy and me. We weren’t triplets or
twins, but mom wanted us to look the same. How wonderful! Jane, Lucy and I
looked like refugees; all wearing the same dress that were two sizes larger
than they needed to be…you know to get more wear out of it.

Although we would make the trip to
Lit Brothers and 7th street at least once a year, my mother’s
favorite store was Robert Hall. It was in walking distance, ten city blocks
away, and the clothes were more affordable according to mom. Maybe my mom liked
the jingle for the store. Here is a sample.

One particular summer, my mother had
bought Jane, Lucy and me the shorts and tops we would need for our two week
vacation from our crazy parents and the grocery store. Mom had packed our
clothing into the metal trunks without us seeing what she bought and sent us
off to St. Monica’s Summer Camp.

Robert Hall must have been having
one hell of a freaking great sale on red and blue shorts because Mom bought
Jane and I five exact shorts all the same color…five…exact…shorts. Lucy was
spared only because they didn’t carry the style in her size. Nothing like being
teased at camp because the kids thought you and your sister were wearing the
same clothing over and over. I still have nightmares about that summer.

I hated this dress!!!! Can you tell?

Once Jane and I were in high school
and going to Newman’s dances, we began to argue with mom about the clothing she
was trying to force on us. The last time my mom bought clothing for me, we were
in one of the dressing rooms at Robert Hall. I hated the dress. Mom liked it. I
threw it on the floor. She hauled off and smacked me…but in the end I had won
the battle and she didn’t get the dress.

Jane in a dress she bought with her own money

Jane and I began buying our
clothing with our allowance money from working the store. We no longer worried
about wearing clothing that hung on us or was outdated. The clothes Jane and I
shopped for were always in style and more importantly, they fit.

Rere with an outfit she picked out

I vowed that I would never force my
fashion style on my daughter, and I didn’t. Rere was pretty savvy on clothing
style as young as four years old and she would often pick out her own clothing whenever
we went shopping. But…some things never change. On one of my yearly visits to
see my mother, who was then living in Napa California, she took my daughter and
me clothes shopping. Mom had found a beautiful dress that she wanted Rere to
try it on.

It was two sizes bigger and definitely
nothing Rere would wear; my daughter was a tomboy, but Mom persisted on buying
it. I was about to say something, but Rere beat me to it. “Grandmom, it's not going to happen.”

“Okay, pick out something you like
instead.” And just like that, my mother let her granddaughter pick an outfit she
wanted to wear.

Oh my gosh, Marie, I remember shopping at Robert Halls, too, but in New Jersey. And I remember my mother dressing me and my sister in the same outfit, different sizes. Judy and I were two completely different body types. What looked good on Judy, did not look good on me and vice-versa. Somehow we got by, didn't we Marie. Love you blog, my dear!

Thank you Victoria for all your support in my writing and yes, we did survive and boy do we have great stories from those times. Your children will also have such wonderful stories to tell about their childhood and the camping trips you took them on. love you